The Training Rim

“Man: He sacrifices his health in order to make money.  Then he sacrifices money to recuperate his health.”

-          The Dali Lama, when asked what surprises him the most about humanity.

This quote resonates with me because I’ve seen or heard examples of this on an almost daily basis for the better half of two decades now.

I’ll have someone tell me they can’t train with me because of their work schedule – they’re just “too busy” - on a pretty regular basis.  They’ll come to me to exercise “When work calms down…”

I’ll have a TR member tell me they need to skip a training session (or sessions) because something came up with work, or things are “real hectic at work right now” on a regular basis as well.  It’s usually followed by the obligatory, “If I don’t go to work, I can’t pay YOU!” justification – as if I’m the one who’s going to suffer if their self-abuse isn’t allowed to continue. J

And anytime I hear this logic, I think of the Dali Lama quote, and I follow my situation through to its logical conclusion:

It’s been said before, but it bears repeating:

You are going to pay for your health at some point one way or the other.

You can be proactive about it, and invest in a good training program NOW that will save you a small fortune down the road.

Or you can get caught up in your “work” and ignore your health by not paying for it – YET.  But as sure as you are reading this, if you go that route, you WILL pay for it at some point.

You’ll have to get yourself an orthopedist, a cardiologist, a physical therapist, an oncologist, etc.  It’s going to cost way more than a trainer and it’ll be much less pleasant.  Not sure how much your quality of life is worth, but it’s going to be a lot worse and a lot more costly if you go that route.

Trust me, I get it – life gets hectic.  I own and operate a small business.  I have a “to-do” list that could choke a horse.  But I will NOT allow that to get in the way of my health or quality of life.  And because I’ve been doing this for years, I have the benefit of knowing many people for a long period of time, so I can say relatively assuredly:  People who prioritize their health look, feel and perform better over long periods of time.  People who don’t make their exercise and health a priority, do not look and perform their best, but they end up paying for their health anyway (again, usually in an unpleasant manner).

And oddly enough, I’ve never had anyone disagree with me on this.  Yet they’ll ignore the message anyway and continue the self-defeating behavior.

It’s your call.